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Police: Boston Marathon bombing suspects spent night in Honda

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Massachusetts State Police say a pair of brothers suspected in the Boston Marathon bombings spent the night in a Honda CRV and used it to carjack a Mercedes SUV.

By KATIE ZEZIMA, Associated Press

WATERTOWN, Mass. (AP) — Massachusetts State Police say a pair of brothers suspected in the Boston Marathon bombings spent the night in a Honda CRV and used it to carjack a Mercedes SUV.

Police said Friday morning at a Watertown news conference that one of the brothers stayed with the carjacking victim for a few minutes and then let him go.

They say one brother drove away in the CRV, and the other one drove away in the Mercedes.

Police say one then ditched the CRV and reunited with his brother in the Mercedes. Authorities say both suspects were in the Mercedes when they encountered police and hurled explosives at officers. Twenty-six-year-old suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev (tsahr-NY'-ev) was killed.

The CRV was later recovered in Boston.

Nineteen-year-old Dzhokhar (JOH'-kahr) Tsarnaev remains on the loose.


Boston in lockdown for manhunt: Eerie photos of empty city streets hit Instagram

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A rare look at Boston as Ghost Town, as residents stay off the streets as part of Friday's manhunt.

It's not every day you see the streets of a major U.S. city practically deserted -- and Bostonians took notice of the rare occurance. Many social media users, holed up for Friday's citywide lockdown during the manhunt for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, shared their photos of the deserted city streets on Instagram.

A selection of those photos appears below, a rare look at Boston as a near-Ghost Town.

valeriesanborn

No one at Quincy #Boston #Quincymarket #lockdown


lcav55

#boston #abandoned #huntington #suspect #bombing #transportation #ban #erie #lockdown #ghosttown


mister_dabble

Downtown Crossing Boston at 1030am this morning #prayforboston #Boston #lockdown #bostonmarathon


absolutelyari

Its creepy to see the streets this empty #Boston #LockDown #BostonStrong


danimariethibodeau

Boston on lock down @everyday33 totally stole this from you #boston#bostonmyhome#lockdown


pecjr23

Kenmore Square Boston 41913 #lockdown


berkleejazz

Not a soul Not a sound Boston will find the sucker Even if we must shut down


shelllyyyy

One of the busiest corners The entire city is on lockdown #eerie #ghosttown #boston #kenmore #prayforboston #bostonstrong


stephgoguen

Woah quietest the #northend has been probably ever #boston


sho1624

The sight of what usually is a busy bustling city deserted is so eerie #Boston #manhunt #bostonbombings


Some Western Massachusetts troopers sent to Boston as manhunt continues for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

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Springfield police have stepped up contact with Peter Pan and Amtrak personnel

SPRINGFIELD -- Some state troopers from Western Massachusetts are being sent to the Boston area to assist in the search for surviving Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

“We are pooling our resources from across the state,” state Trooper Todd Nolan said.

Nolan declined to elaborate on the shifting of resources to the Boston area save to say that ample coverage remains statewide.

Springfield Police Officer Charles Youmans, spokesman for Commissioner William J. Fitchet, said the department has stepped up contact with Peter Pan and Amtrak personnel in the city as the manhunt continues.

“We are all just trading information at this time,” Youmans said.

Peter Pan has indefinitely canceled all bus service to Boston. Amtrak personnel were not immediately available for comment.

2-vehicle accident on Interstate 391 in Chicopee sends person to Baystate Medical Center with minor injuries

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State police said one of the motorists will be cited for operating to endanger.

CHICOPEE – A person was taken to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield with minor injuries late Friday morning following a two-vehicle crash on Interstate 391.

Sgt. Alan Joubert, who is attached to the Springfield barracks, said a motorist will be cited operating to endanger following the crash. The crash was reported shortly after 11 a.m.

Both vehicles were northbound and the accident occurred just past Exit 2.

Further information about the cause of the accident was not immediately available.

Massachusetts state police: Officers going door-to-door, but Boston Marathon bombing suspect still on loose

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State police say officers are going door-to-door, but the Boston Marathon suspect still on loose.

By EILEEN SULLIVAN, KATIE ZEZIMA and MEGHAN BARR, Associated Press

WATERTOWN, Mass. (AP) — State police say officers are going door-to-door, but the Boston Marathon suspect is still on the loose.

Col. Timothy Alben of the Massachusetts State Police said Friday afternoon that officers would go street to street as the manhunt for the bombing suspect continues. Gov. Deval Patrick urged residents to continue staying indoors.

A pair of brothers is suspected of killing a Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer late Thursday, then stealing a car at gunpoint.

The suspects' clashes with police began hours after the FBI released photos and videos of them. Monday's bombings killed three people and wounded more than 180 others.

Twenty-six-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev (tsahr-NY'-ev) was killed overnight. His 19-year-old brother, Dzhokhar (JOH'-kahr) is on the loose.

Livestream coverage of manhunt in Watertown for man believed to be 2nd suspect in Boston Marathon bombing

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"We believe this to be a terrorist. We believe this to be a man who came here to kill people," Boston police Commissioner Ed Davis said during a news conference this morning.

A massive manhunt is underway in Watertown for a man police consider "Suspect No. 2" in the Monday's Boston Marathon bombing.

"We believe this to be a terrorist," Boston police Commissioner Ed Davis said during a news conference this morning. "We believe this to be a man who came here to kill people. We need to get him in custody." Officials said the first suspect was killed.

[Related: What happened overnight in the investigation]

Here is New England Cable News' livestream coverage of the manhunt for the second suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing:

Watch live streaming video from necn_live at livestream.com


Follow the coverage:

11:19 a.m. Tamerlan Tsarnaev studied accounting at Bunker Hill Community College

11:00 a.m. Suspect's online video translated

10:41 a.m. UMass-Dartmouth evacuates campus; suspect is registered student

10:37 a.m. Former friend of suspects discusses what they were like

Gallery preview

10:27 a.m. Boston eerily quiet as city waits, watches manhunt

9:51 a.m. Killed MIT officer Sean Collier, 26, 'dedicated' and 'well liked'

9:40 a.m. Suspect's father: Son is "a true angel"

9:36 a.m. MIT community mourns death of police officer killed in shootout

9:17 a.m. Who is Dzhokhar Tsarnaev?

9:13 a.m. Courthouses in Boston, Cambridge, Newton and Waltham closed

9:06 a.m. Boston-area transportation updates: Logan Airport open, MBTA suspended

8:58 a.m. UMass Amherst official says suspect was not registered at school

8:51 a.m. Peter Pan Bus Lines ceases all runs to Boston

Gallery preview

8:27 a.m. Authorities ID name of MBTA transit officer shot

7:51 a.m. Watertown residents describe 'war zone'

7:42 a.m. Marathon Bombing investigation underway in Cambridge

7:08 a.m. Bombing suspects IDd as Chechnyan brothers

6:50 a.m. Manhunt for Marathon Bomber expands to communities surrounding Watertown

6:35 a.m. Massachusetts residents west of Boston told to 'stay home'

6:26 a.m. Boston suburbs on lockdown, public transit shut down

4:34 a.m. One Boston Marathon bombing suspect dead, second at large

2:06 a.m. Police converge on neighborhood outside Boston after reports of gunfire, explosions

1:47 a.m. Major operation centering on Watertown, explosions said to have gone off

1:25 a.m. MIT police officer killed in campus shooting

Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev faced two Western Massachusetts wrestlers in 2011 Div. I state tournament

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Dzhokhar Tsarnaev defeated Minnechaug's Cam Servantez before losing to West Springfield's Shawn Le.

cam servantez.JPG Former Minnechaug wrestler Cam Servantez (right, in 2012) once faced Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in the 2011 state tournament.  


Two Western Massachusetts wrestlers once shared a mat with Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was apprehended Friday night following a standoff in Watertown.

One of the facts about Tsarnaev, 19, that came out following the revelation of his identity was his career as a wrestler at Cambridge Rindge & Latin High School. As a participant in the 135-pound class, he took third place at the 2011 Division I Central Massachusetts sectional meet.

A week later, Tsarnaev dropped his opening-round match in the Division I state tournament. He fell to the loser's bracket, where his first opponent was Cam Servantez of Minnechaug Regional in Wilbraham.

Tsarnaev defeated Servantez by a 10-0 major decision, advancing him to take on West Springfield's Shawn Le. Tsarnaev was eliminated from the tournament when Le pinned him 1:49 into the first period.

Photos, video: Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev seen in ambulance after capture

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The 19-year-old Tsarnaev was found hiding in a shrink-wrapped boat in the yard of a home on Franklin Street.

041913 dzhokhar tsarnaev ambulance.JPG View full size 04.19.2013 | WATERTOWN -- This still frame from video shows Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev visible through an ambulance after he was captured in Watertown Friday.  

The Associated Press has released photos and a video of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev inside the ambulance in which he was placed after a swarm of police took him into custody Friday night in Watertown.

Tsarnaev was captured after a massive manhunt that began after he and his brother allegedly killed an MIT police officer late Thursday night.

The 19-year-old Tsarnaev was found hiding in a shrink-wrapped boat in the yard of a home on Franklin Street.

Police said Tsarnaev exchanged gunfire with law enforcement for an hour while holed up in the boat before being captured. Davis said Tsarnaev was hospitalized late Friday in serious condition.


Red Sox, Bruins resume playing schedule

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The capture of alleged Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev means Boston professional sports can resume its normal schedule. The Red Sox and Bruins are ready for Saturday games.

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Boston strong.jpg


Boston teams get back to their normal schedules after authorities lifted a ban on movement in the greater Boston area following the capture of alleged Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.





 
BOSTON (AP) The Red Sox and Bruins were ready to return to action after a daylong manhunt for a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings brought major pro sports in the city to a standstill.

The Red Sox play the Kansas City Royals on Saturday afternoon following the postponement of Friday night's opening game of the scheduled three-game series at Fenway Park. No makeup date was announced.

The Bruins face the Pittsburgh Penguins, also on Saturday afternoon, in a meeting of two of the top four teams in the Eastern Conference. The game had been postponed from Friday night. The Penguins' scheduled home game against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night was rescheduled for Tuesday night.

The postponements came about four hours before the games were to start after authorities told people throughout Boston and some of its suburbs to stay indoors while they searched for the suspect. About three hours later, mass transit train service that had been shut down for much of Friday resumed.

Police had identified two suspects in Monday's bombings near the finish line of the marathon. One man was killed early Friday during a shootout with police. The other was taken into custody Friday night following a standoff during which shots were fired.

Boston College canceled all home athletic events for Saturday, including the annual spring football game.

The suspension of Amtrak train service forced the New England Revolution of MLS to change plans and travel by bus Friday morning for their game against the New York Red Bulls on Saturday night at Red Bull Stadium in Harrison, N.J

Online detectives flourish in search for Boston bombers

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As the FBI and local authorities asked for help with the Boston Marathon bombing case, social media denizens took up the challenge



search-Boston Marathon bombers.jpg


Law enforcement officers on heightened alert pulled over a black car with Massachusetts license plates in Niagara Falls N.Y. , Friday, April 19, 2013. Trooper Jeffrey Bebak says that a state police bomb disposal team is using a robot to remove items from the car that was stopped earlier in the morning. Bebak says two men are being questioned by police but he has no other details. The response came amid an intense manhunt in Massachusetts one of the Boston Marathon bombers. (AP Photo/The Buffalo News, Derek Gee)





 
SEATTLE (AP) The intensive manhunt for the bombers behind the
deadly Boston Marathon attacks didn't take place only on the streets with professional police officers and SWAT teams. In an era of digital interactivity, it also unfolded around the country from laptops and desk chairs filled with regular folks.

Fueled by Twitter, online forums like Reddit and 4Chan, smartphones and relays of police scanners, thousands of people played armchair detective as police searched for men who turned out to be suspects.
> Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, ethnic Chechen brothers who had immigrated from southern Russia years ago.

But as amateur online sleuths began identifying possible culprits, caught in the virtual manhunt were people who were wrongly accused or placed under suspicion by crowdsourcing. It showed the damage that digital investigators can cause and raised a relevant question: In the social-media generation, what does law enforcement unleash when, by implication, it deputizes the public for help?

"The FBI kind of opened the door," said Hanson R. Hosein, director of the University of Washington Master of Communication in Digital Media program. "It was almost like it was put up as challenge to them, and they rose to it. ... They can be either really helpful or mob rule."

The bombings have been the highest-profile case in which the public has joined an active investigation, using ever-evolving crowd-sourcing tools, showing the pitfalls and benefits of new technology. It's certainly not vigilantism, but it's not standard policing, either. It's something in the middle, perhaps something new, the law-enforcement equivalent of citizen journalism.

As authorities asked the public for help, Reddit users began piecing together clues in the pictures and videos. They pointed out men who were wearing backpacks standing in the crowd. They looked at the straps of backpacks to compare with the one thought to have carried the bomb. They analyzed the bombs' blasts and people's gazes. In one particular photo thread, posted on imgur.com shortly after the bombing, a user attempted to pinpoint exactly where the bomb was placed.

"I'm seeing a lot of confusion and misinformation from news sites about where each bomb was detonated. After combing through the photos I've seen, I believe I've been able to make a solid case as to their exact location, where 'exact' in this case has an error margin of about 2 meters," user "gdhdshdhd" said.

Eventually, efforts and pictures posted in the sub-section dubbed "r/findbostonbombers" and elsewhere on Reddit were picked up by news organizations with more readers, giving it greater exposure.

Another wave of detective work happened after the FBI released pictures and videos of the Tsarnaev brothers and as initial reports of a shooting at Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Thursday night. While listening to the police scanner, Reddit and Twitter users thought they had heard the name of a Brown University student missing since March, and one user posted a news story about his disappearance.

That assumption proved wrong and there was a cost.

The missing student's family, besieged with ugly comments, temporarily took down a Facebook page asking for help finding him. A few hours later, the online detectives said sorry in the words of one moderator, "Rather Confused," for "any part we may have had in relaying what has turned out to be faulty information." Several Reddit users who posted on r/findbostonbombers did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

The president seemed to acknowledge this Friday night, speaking after the second suspect was captured. "In this age of instant reporting, tweets and blogs, there's a temptation to latch on to any bit of information, sometimes to jump to conclusions," Barack Obama said. "But when a tragedy like this happens, with public safety at risk and the stakes so high, it's important we do this right."

The rush to informal sleuthing began Monday soon after the smoke clear as pictures and videos from the marathon began to circulate on the Internet. Salah Eddin Barhoum, a 17-year-old track star who was a spectator at Monday's race, had his picture posted all over the Internet and ended up on the cover of the New York Post. He told The Associated Press on Thursday that he is now afraid to leave his house.

Some of the amateur police work didn't sit well with the professionals. Boston's police department, for example, has a very active Twitter account with more than 220,000 followers, but the onslaught of misinformation proved to be too much. At one point, Boston police asked people to stop tweeting information from their scanner traffic.

Other police departments have faced similar situations. In the Seattle area, journalists and members of the public were asked to stop tweeting as authorities looked for a man who killed four police officers in 2009. In Los Angeles, authorities had the same request as they looked for rogue ex-police officer Christopher Dorner earlier this year.

"It's completely human nature, it's to be expected that people are going to take events and try to apply meaning," said Sgt. Sean Whitcomb, spokesman for Seattle's police.

The Seattle Police Department has fully embraced Twitter and blogs, using both frequently. Whitcomb said the department disseminated as much information as it could, such as pictures, on two recent cases in which there were armed suspects on the loose that sparked brief citywide manhunts.

"We also want to make sure we are having a voice in the conversation," Whitcomb said. "We want people to go to us first and cover the information we're putting out. If we can get that done, it's a win."

While Reddit and 4Chan have been around for several years, their prominence has grown of late. More and more news organizations have learned to use them to mine information. For Hosein, sub-sections on Reddit have become something like local newspapers, except it's the users providing the content.

"Citizens think they almost have an obligation to rise up to do the work," he said.

Hosein says that the FBI's call for help was no different than a "Wanted: Dead or Alive" poster from the 1800's albeit with much more amplification and distribution. But he feels that after this week's saga, people will eventually learn to exercise caution.

"There's a sense that we're learning collectively quickly, that we actually have to take on some of the sourcing rules that journalists have had in the past," Hosein said. "I've seen more restraint like, 'Wait guys, hold on, there's gotta be more confirmation.' I know we're learning. I don't think it's going to be repeated."

___

Manuel Valdes can be reached at http://twitter.com/ByManuelValdes

Yesterday's top stories: Eerie photos of empty Boston streets hit Instagram; Cambridge mechanic says Boston bombing suspect was in shop; and more

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Coverage of the manhunt for suspected Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev dominated the news on Friday.

These were the most-read stories on MassLive.com yesterday. If you missed any of them, click on the links below to read them now.

1) Boston in lockdown for manhunt: Eerie photos of empty city streets hit Instagram [By Erik Gallant]

2) Boston Mayor Thomas Menino rises from wheelchair to deliver message of strength, resilience [By Shira Schoenberg]

3) Boston-area transportation updates: Logan Airport open, MBTA suspended [By MassLive.com staff]

4) Marathon Bombing investigation underway on Norfolk Street in Cambridge [By Shira Schoenberg]

5) Cambridge mechanic: Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev picked up car day after attack [By Shira Schoenberg]

Photos: A slideshow of photos showing officials and civilians celebrating the capture of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of two men suspected of the Boston Marathon bombings (above)


Garage fire under investigation

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The executive aide to Fire Commissioner Joseph Conant, Dennis Leger, said while the fire is under investigation it is not considered suspicious.

IMG_8620 copy.jpg Arson Investigator Darren Padilla works the scene at the rear of 191 Pasco Road early Saturday Morning  

SPRINGFIELD -- A early morning garage fire destroyed tools and stored items at a Pasco Road home.

The 3:04 a.m. fire gutted the interior of the one-car garage at the 191 Pasco Road home of Daniel Leathe. The executive aide to Fire Commissioner Joseph Conant, Dennis Leger, said while the fire is under investigation it is not considered suspicious.

Leger put damages at $20,000 total. He said the structure was valued at $15,000 while the contents were set at $5,000.

Boy Scouts propose to lift gay ban for youth, while continuing to bar gay adult leaders

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Gay-rights groups, which had demanded a complete lifting of the ban, criticized the proposal as inadequate.

By DAVID CRARY
AP National Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Searching for compromise on a divisive issue, the Boy Scouts of America is proposing to partially lift its long-standing exclusion of gays — allowing them as youth members but continuing to bar them as adult leaders.

The proposal, unveiled Friday after weeks of private leadership deliberations, will be submitted to the roughly 1,400 voting members of the BSA's National Council during the week of May 20 at a meeting in Texas.

The key part of the resolution says no youth may be denied membership in the Scouts "on the basis of sexual orientation or preference alone." A ban would continue on leadership roles for adults who are openly gay or lesbian.

Gay-rights groups, which had demanded a complete lifting of the ban, criticized the proposal as inadequate.

"Until every parent and young person have the same opportunity to serve, the Boy Scouts will continue to see a decline in both membership and donations," said Rich Ferraro, a spokesman for the gay-rights watchdog group GLAAD.

Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said the BSA was too timid.

"What message does this resolution send to the gay Eagle Scout who, as an adult, wants to continue a lifetime of Scouting by becoming a troop leader?" he asked.

Some conservative groups assailed the proposal from the opposite direction, saying the ban should be kept in its entirety.

"The policy is incoherent," said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council. "The proposal says, in essence, that homosexuality is morally acceptable until a boy turns 18 — then, when he comes of age, he's removed from the Scouts."

Perkins predicted that the proposed change, if adopted, would subject the BSA to "crippling lawsuits" because it would no longer be able to argue that excluding gays was integral to its basic principles.

Indeed, the BSA has anticipated hostile reaction, estimating that easing the ban on gay adults might prompt between 100,000 and 350,000 members to leave the organization, which now has 2.6 million youth members.

In January, the BSA said it was considering a plan to give sponsors of local Scout units the option of admitting gays as both youth members and adult leaders or continuing to exclude them.

On Friday, the BSA said it changed course in part because of surveys sent out starting in February to about 1 million members of the Scouting community.

The review, said a BSA statement, "created an outpouring of feedback" from 200,000 respondents, some supporting the exclusion policy and others favoring a change.

"While perspectives and opinions vary significantly, parents, adults in the Scouting community and teens alike tend to agree that youth should not be denied the benefits of Scouting," the statement said.

As a result, the BSA's Executive Committee drafted the compromise resolution.

"The proposed resolution also reinforces that Scouting is a youth program, and any sexual conduct, whether heterosexual or homosexual, by youth of Scouting age is contrary to the virtues of Scouting," the statement said.

The BSA described its survey as "the most comprehensive listening exercise in its history."

In a summary of the findings, it said respondents overall supported the BSA's current policy of excluding gays by a margin of 61 percent to 34 percent, while a majority of younger parents and teens opposed the policy.

It said overwhelming majorities of parents, teens and members of the Scouting community felt it would be unacceptable to deny an openly gay Scout an Eagle Scout Award solely because of his sexual orientation.

Included in the survey were dozens of churches and other religious organizations that sponsor a majority of Scout units. The BSA said many of the religious organizations expressed concern over having gay adult leaders and were less concerned about gay youth members.

Many Scout units are sponsored by relatively conservative denominations that have supported the ban on gays in the past — notably the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Southern Baptist churches.

A Southern Baptist Convention spokesman, Roger Oldham, said the SBC would prefer that the Boy Scouts maintain the ban on both gay youth and adults. LDS spokesman Michael Purdy said Mormon leaders would study the new proposal before commenting, and there was no immediate public reaction from Catholic officials who have been dealing with the BSA membership issue.

The BSA survey tried to gauge the proposal's effect on financial support. Local Scout councils said 51 percent of their major donors opposed easing the ban, while a majority of Fortune 500 companies supported a change.

In another revealing section of the survey, the BSA reported feedback from 30 national youth organizations and civic groups, many of them partners of the Scouts in various endeavors.

Of the 30 organizations, 28 urged the Scouts to lift the ban, and many warned that their partnerships might end if the ban remained.

The BSA also consulted four experts in the field of child sex abuse prevention. The four conveyed a "nearly universal opinion" within their field that homosexuality is not a risk factor for the sexual abuse of children.

Since January, the Scouts have come under intense pressure from activists and advocacy groups on both sides of the membership debate.

In Indiana, for example, there's an ongoing campaign demanding that the United Way withhold funding from the Scouts until the ban is lifted. In California, the state Senate is considering a bill aimed at pressuring the BSA to lift the ban by making the organization ineligible for nonprofit tax breaks.

Among the leaders of the anti-ban campaign is Jennifer Tyrrell, an Ohio mother who was ousted as her 7-year-old son's Cub Scout den leader because she is gay.

"The Boy Scouts are once again forcing me to look my children in the eyes and tell them that our family isn't good enough," Tyrrell said in a statement Friday.

Another leading opponent of the ban is Eagle Scout Zach Wahls, a 21-year-old activist raised by lesbian mothers in Iowa. He pledged to continue his advocacy, yet welcomed the proposed lifting of the ban on gay youths.

"Today, this is about the kids, and we are glad that the Boy Scouts of America is taking this historic step forward," he said in an e-mail.

On the other side, the Family Research Council has been circulating an online petition urging the BSA to keep the ban. And in Utah, the Boy Scouts' Great Salt Lake Council — one of the largest in the country with 73,400 youth members — said a survey showed that more than 80 percent of its leaders opposed lifting the ban.

John Stemberger, an Eagle Scout and conservative activist from Florida, assailed the new proposal as a retreat in the face of gay-rights pressure.

"We urge the National Council to vote against this resolution and uphold the time-tested membership policy of the Boy Scouts," Stemberger said.

Boston Marathon bombing: Lives of Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev begin to come into focus

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Why would two brothers turn on their adopted home with an attack on the Boston Marathon?

By JEFF DONN & JOCELYN NOVECK
AP National Writers

BOSTON (AP) — Tamerlan Tsarnaev was an amateur boxer with muscular arms and enough brio to arrive at a sparring session without protective gear. His younger brother Dzhokhar was popular in high school, won a city scholarship for college and liked to hang out with Russian friends off-campus.

Details of two lives, suddenly infamous, came to light Friday. Overnight, two men previously seen only in grainy camera images were revealed to be ethnic Chechen brothers suspected in a horrific act of terrorism. Tamerlan was dead; his 19-year-old brother would be captured after a furious manhunt that shut down much of Boston.

But the details of their lives shed precious little light on the most vexing question: Why would two brothers who came to America a decade ago turn on their adopted home with an attack on a cherished tradition, the Boston Marathon?

The Tsarnaev family arrived in the United States, seeking refuge from strife in their homeland. "Why people go to America? You know why," the father, Anzor Tsarnaev, said in an interview from Russia, where he lives now. "Our political system in Russia . Chechens were persecuted in Kyrgyzstan, they were problems." The family had moved from Kyrgyzstan to Dagestan, a predominantly Muslim republic in Russia's North Caucasus that has become an epicenter of the Islamic insurgency that spilled over from Chechnya.

The father set up as an auto mechanic, and the two boys (there were two sisters, too) went to school. Dzhokhar, at least, attended the Cambridge Rindge and Latin school, a prestigious public school just blocks from Harvard Yard.

From there, the boys' paths diverged somewhat — at least for a while.

Tamerlan, who was 26 when he was killed overnight in a shootout, dropped out after studying accounting at Bunker Hill Community College for just three semesters.

"I don't have a single American friend. I don't understand them," he was quoted as saying in a photo package that appeared in a Boston University student magazine in 2010.

He identified himself then as a Muslim and said he did not drink or smoke: "God said no alcohol." He said he hoped to fight for the U.S. Olympic team and become a naturalized American.

As a boxer, he was known for his nerve. "He's a real cocky guy," said one trainer who worked with him, Kendrick Ball. He said the young man came to his first sparring session with no protective gear. "That's unheard of with boxing," Ball said. But he added: "In this sport, you've got to be sure of yourself, you know what I mean?"

More recently, Tamerlan — married, with a young daughter — became a more devout Muslim, according to his aunt, Maret Tsarnaeva. She told reporters outside her Toronto home Friday that the older brother had taken to praying five times a day.

In 2011, the FBI interviewed Tamerlan at the behest of a foreign government, a federal law enforcement official said, speaking anonymously. The officials would not say what country made the request or why, but said that nothing derogatory was found.

Albrecht Ammon, 18, lived directly below the apartment of the two suspects. He said he recently saw Tamerlan in a pizzeria, where they argued about religion and U.S. foreign policy. He quoted Tsarnaev as saying that many U.S. wars are based on the Bible, which is used as "an excuse for invading other countries."

During the argument, Ammon said, Tsarnaev told him he had nothing against the American people, but he had something against the American government. "The Bible was a cheap copy of the Koran," Ammon quoted Tsarnaev as saying.

Tamerlan traveled to Russia last year and returned to the U.S. six months later, government officials told The Associated Press. More wasn't known about his travels.

According to law enforcement records he was arrested, in 2009, for assault and battery on a girlfriend; the charges were dismissed. His father told The New York Times that the case thwarted Tamerlan's hopes for U.S. citizenship.

Meanwhile, the mother of the suspects, Zubeidat Tsarnaev, was heard from only in an audio interview broadcast on CNN, defending her sons and calling the accusations against them a setup. She said she had never heard a word from her older son about any thinking that would have led to such an attack. "He never told me he would be on the side of jihad," she said.

Her younger son was described by friends as well-adjusted and well-liked in both high school and college, though at some point in college, his academic work reportedly suffered greatly.

"I'm in complete shock," said Rose Schutzberg, 19, who graduated high school with Dzhokhar and now attends Barnard College in New York. "He was a very studious person. He was really popular. He wrestled. People loved him."

In fact, Schutzberg said, she had "a little crush" on him in high school. "He's a great guy," she said. "He's smart, funny. He's definitely a really sweet person, very kind hearted, kind soul."

Dzhokhar was on the school's wrestling team. And in May 2011, his senior year, he was awarded a $2,500 scholarship from the city to pursue higher education, according to a news release at the time. That scholarship was celebrated with a reception at city hall.

The New Bedford Standard-Times reported that Dr. Brian Glyn Williams, who teaches Chechen history at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, said he had tutored Dzhokhar in the subject when he was in high school.

"He was learning his Chechen identity, identifying with the diaspora and identifying with his homeland," Williams said, adding that Dzhokhar "wanted to learn more about Chechnya, who the fighters were, who the commanders were."

Dzhokhar went on to attend UMass-Dartmouth, according to university officials. He lived on the third floor of the Pine Dale dormitory. Harry Danso, who lives on the same floor, told the AP he saw him in a dorm hallway this week.

"He was regular, he was calm," said Danso.

The school would not say what he was studying. The father of the suspects, Anzor Tsarnaev, told the AP his younger son was "a second-year medical student," though he graduated high school in 2011.

"My son is a true angel ...," he said by telephone from the Russian city of Makhachkala. "He is such an intelligent boy. We expected him to come on holidays here."

Still, The New York Times reported that a college transcript revealed that he was failing many of his college classes. In two semesters in 2012 and 2013, he got seven failing grades, including F's in Principles of Modern Chemistry, Intro American Politics, and Chemistry and the Environment.

Dzhokhar's page on the Russian social networking site Vkontakte says that before moving to the United States, he attended School No. 1 in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, and he describes himself as speaking Chechen as well as English and Russian. His world view is described as "Islam" and he says his personal goal is "career and money."

Deana Beaulieu, 20, lives two blocks away from the suspects' home on Norfolk Street, went to high school with Dzhokhar and was friendly with his sister.

Beaulieu says she doesn't recall Dzhokhar expressing any political views. "I thought he was going to branch off to college, and now this is what he's done. ... I don't understand what the hell happened, what set him off like this."

Florida Addy, 19, of Lynn, Mass., said she lived in the same college dorm with Dzhokhar this year and was on the same floor last year. She called him "drug" (pronounced droog), the Russian word for friend, a word he taught her.

Addy said she saw Dzhokhar last week, when she bummed a cigarette from him. They would occasionally hang out in his room or at the New Bedford apartment of Russian students he knew. He generally wore a hoodie or a white t-shirt and sweatpants, and spent a lot of his time with other kids from Russia.

She described him as down to earth and friendly, even a little mysterious, but in a charming way. She had just learned that he had a girlfriend, although she did not attend the university.

"He was nice. He was cool. I'm just in shock," she said.

Tim Kelleher, a wrestling coach for a Boston school that competed in 2010 against Dzhokhar's team, said the young man was a good wrestler, and that he'd never heard him express any political opinions.

"He was a tough, solid kid, just quiet," said Kelleher, now a Boston public school teacher.

Dzhokhar's uncle, too, was surprised by his suspected involvement in the attack — much more, he said, than by his brother's. "It's not a surprise about him," Ruslan Tsarni, who lives in Maryland, said of Tamerlan. "The younger one, that's something else." He said the family had placed all its hopes with Dzhokhar, hoping he would be a doctor.

Tamerlan was more defined by sports, namely boxing. USA Boxing spokeswoman Julie Goldsticker said Tamerlan registered with the group as an amateur boxer from 2003 to 2004, and again from 2008 to 2010. He competed as a heavyweight in the National Golden Gloves competition in Salt Lake City on May 4, 2009, losing his only bout.

In photographs that appeared in the student magazine, including one in which he posed with his shirt off, Tamerlan has the muscular arms of a boxer, and is dressed in flashy street-clothes that he said were "European style."

In another window onto his personality, his Amazon wish list — traced by the AP using an email address on his public record report — includes books on organized crime, document forgery, the conflict in Chechnya, and two self-help books, including Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends & Influence People."

Gene McCarthy, who trained Tamerlan at the Somerville Boxing Club, described him as a "nice kid" who already was a good fighter before he showed up at the gym years ago.

"He never lost a bout for me," McCarthy said. "He had some skills from his father before he showed up in my gym." McCarthy described the young man as "very intelligent" and recalled that he also played classical piano.

In Kyrgyzstan, the former Soviet republic where the family lived before it moved to Dagestan, Leila Alieva, a former schoolmate, remembers an educated family and a nice boy.

"He was ... a good student, a jock, a boxer. He used to win all the (boxing) competitions in town," she said. "I can't believe they were involved in the explosions, because Tamerlan was a very positive guy, and they were not very Islamist. They were Muslim, but had a secular lifestyle."

In a local news article in 2004, Tamerlan spoke about his boxing and his views of America.

"I like the USA," Tamerlan was quoted as saying in The Sun of Lowell, Mass. "America has a lot of jobs. That's something Russia doesn't have. You have a chance to make money here if you are willing to work."

___

Noveck reported from New York. Associated Press writers Jay Lindsay, Bridget Murphy, Pat Eaton-Robb and Adam Geller in Boston; Michelle R. Smith in Providence, R.I.; Laura Wides-Munoz in Cambridge, Mass.; Erika Niedowski in Dartmouth, Mass.; Michael Kunzelman in New Orleans; Eric Tucker in Montgomery Village, Md.; Michael Biesecker in Raleigh; Justin Pritchard in Los Angeles; David Caruso in New York; Eileen Sullivan, Jack Gillum, Steve Braun, Pete Yost, Alicia Caldwell, and Kim Dozier in Washington; Charmaine Noronha in Toronto; Arsen Mollayev in Makhachkala, Russia; Leila Saralayeva in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan; and Vladimir Isachenkov and Lynn Berry in Moscow contributed to this report. The AP News Research Center also contributed.

Nabbed! How newspaper front pages across the country covered the capture of the Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

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The arrest of the suspect Boston Marathon bomber was the lead story in nearly every newspaper in the United States.

Gallery preview

The capture of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on Friday night was the lead story in nearly every newspaper in the United States.

In this photo gallery, take a look at the varying approaches taken by newspapers ranging from Florida to Oregon. The differences -- and similarities -- provide a snapshot of the nation's first reaction to the news.

Images of crowds cheering law enforcement officers as the exited the scene of Tsarnaev's Watertown standoff dominate the pages, very possibly cementing the next iconic images from a week that has already produced numerous unforgettable photos.

Click here to enter the gallery.


Click here for more coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing investigation.


Lexington gun rally barred after Boston Marathon bombings

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Several groups came to Lexington for a Second Amendment rally that had earlier been permitted for the Battle Green.

LEXINGTON — Dozens of advocates have tried to rally for gun rights in Lexington despite a ban on public gatherings imposed by local officials following the Boston Marathon bombings.

The Boston Globe reports that Lexington Police Chief Mark Corr said several groups, ranging in number from eight to 80, came to the town Friday morning for a Second Amendment rally that had earlier been permitted for the Battle Green.

The town's Board of Selectmen temporarily suspended permits Tuesday on the Lexington Battle Green. Corr said the town consulted federal authorities and state police who agreed that postponing the rally was proper.

Lexington Selectman Norm Cohen said the board acted in the interest of public safety.

Corr said police allowed advocates to briefly assemble in front of Lexington's visitor center and briefly speak.

Democratic Western Massachusetts Senate debate between Stephen Lynch and Ed Markey rescheduled for Tuesday, April 23

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After being postponed following the terrorist attack at the Boston Marathon on Monday, the Democratic candidates running for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts have agreed to a rescheduled Springfield debate to take place on Tuesday, April 23.

SPRINGFIELD - After being postponed following the terrorist attack at the Boston Marathon on Monday, the Democratic candidates running for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts have agreed to a rescheduled Springfield debate to take place on Tuesday, April 23.

Late Thursday evening, the campaigns of Senate hopefuls and U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch of South Boston and U.S. Rep. Edward Markey of Malden came to an agreement with the Western Massachusetts Media Consortium to push the debate to the beginning of next week.

The debate will be conducted at WGBY-TV studios from 7 to 8 p.m. in a standard-format debate moderated by Jim Madigan, the public affairs director and host of several programs on the PBS affiliate.

The doors at the debate open to ticketholders at 6 p.m. and close at 6:30 p.m. for broadcast purposes. Although debate tickets for the original date will be honored on Tuesday, minus the stipend given to each campaign, there are no additional tickets available.

The event will also be broadcast on stations WGBY-TV, CBS-3 Springfield, ABC-40/FOX-6 and NBC-22, and air on New England Public Radio, 88.5 FM.

For the wired audience in Western Massachusetts and beyond, MassLive.com will stream the debate live and host a live analysis during the debate.

Both the Markey and Lynch campaigns have said they are hosting watch parties in Western Massachusetts for supporters unable to be with them in the studio. Supporters are advised to check with the campaigns for details.

The Republican candidates debated here on March 28, and the consortium plans to hold a final debate of the race following the April 30 primaries.

For GPS purposes, WGBY Studios can be found at 44 Hampden St. Parking is available behind the building and accessible from Gridiron Street behind the Paramount Theater.

To suggest a question for consideration, drop a note in the comment section below or send it to feedback(at)masslive.com with "Senate Debate question" in the subject line.


From Dorchester to BU, capture of Boston bombing suspect brings out flags, tears and fireworks

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Residents of Greater Boston end their "shelter in place" with celebrations spilling out onto the streets.

By JAY LINDSAY
and STEVE PEOPLES

BOSTON — They gathered in silence on Boylston Street, just three blocks away from the chaos and carnage caused by twin bombings four days earlier. Some were crying.

Boston University student Aaron Wengertsman, 19, wrapped himself in an American flag. He was on the marathon route a mile from the finish line when the bombs exploded.

"I'm glad they caught him alive," he said of one of two brothers authorities say were responsible for the explosions. "I thought people might be more excited, but it's humbling to see all these people paying their respects."

As Wengertsman and dozens of others held a solemn commemoration Friday night for the victims of the blasts, others took to the streets of Boston and beyond to celebrate the capture of the surviving suspect following a manhunt that left the city largely paralyzed.

In Boston's Dorchester neighborhood, where an 8-year-old boy killed in the bombing lived, people set off fireworks.

Boston University juniors Brendan Hathaway and Sam Howes gave high fives to strangers as they walked down the street bathed in the flashing lights from Kenmore Square's iconic rooftop Citgo sign.

"This was like our first opportunity to really be outside without feeling like there imminent danger," said Hathaway, a mechanical engineering student from nearby Newton. "It was close to home for me."

At Boston Common, Beth Lloyd-Jones said it felt like she had her city back. She was blocks away from the blast on Monday in her south end home.

"It's personal," she said, noting that she's planning her wedding for the public library building adjacent to where the bombs exploded.

"That could have been any one of us," she said of the victims. "Now I feel a little safer."

The surviving suspect, 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was taken to a hospital after engaging in a firefight with police while hiding out in a parked boat in a Watertown backyard. Earlier in the day, his 26-year-old brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, had been killed in a gunbattle and car chase during which he and his younger brother hurled explosives at police from a stolen car, authorities said. During the getaway attempt, the brothers killed an MIT policeman and severely wounded another officer, authorities said.

"Never in my wildest dreams did I think that this would result in a shootout in Watertown," said Sheamus McGovern, of neighboring Belmont.

Less than 24 hours after the shootout, police officers and firefighters stood grim-faced with guns and rifles, lining the street leading to the property about a mile away where the younger brother was believed to be holed up in the boat.

Reporters and spectators lined up on the other side. The mood was tense, with the few neighbors who ventured out hugging and crying as they heard bangs. Others merely looked on curiously.

Then, one officer slowly started clapping. Then it spread to the crowd. Then loud cheers broke out.

People in the crowd started asking, "Is he alive?" One of the officers nodded, yes. Any time a first responder emerged from the street, there was loud applause.

"They finally caught the jerk," said nurse Cindy Boyle, 41. "It was scary; it was tense." She said she knew when police started clapping that everything would be all right.

In Boston, celebratory bells rang from a church tower after the capture. Teenagers waved American flags in the center of town. Every car that drove by honked. Every time an emergency vehicle went by, people cheered loudly.

Liz Rogers, a 65-year-old attorney, took one of the pieces of yellow police tape and tied it around her neck like a necklace.

"When you see your town invaded like this, it's stunning," she said. "Everyone in Watertown is just so grateful that he's caught and that we're liberated."

The jubilation was widespread. The mayor of Boston tweeted, "We got him!" And at the home of the New York Mets, spectators leapt to their feet and cheered when the news spread during a game against the Washington Nationals.

Hundreds of people marched down Commonwealth Avenue, chanting "USA" and singing the Red Sox anthem "Sweet Caroline" as they headed toward Boston Common. Police blocked traffic along part of the street to allow for the impromptu parade.

"I can finally sleep tonight," said 27-year-old Lisa Mara, standing along Boylston Street, just a few blocks from her home.

Lindsay reported from Watertown, Mass. Associated Press writers Allen G. Breed, Bridget Murphy and Katie Zezima in Boston contributed to this report.


America seemed under siege this week -- bombings, explosions, chemical sabotage

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America was rocked this week, in rare and frightening ways.

bombwide.JPG This Monday, April 15, 2013 photo provided by Bob Leonard shows people running away from a blast during the Boston Marathon, in Boston. Two explosions shattered the euphoria of the Boston Marathon finish line on Monday, sending authorities out on the course to carry off the injured while the stragglers were rerouted away from the smoking site of the blasts.  
Moment after nail-biting moment, the events shoved us through a week that felt like an unremitting series of tragedies: Deadly bombs. Poison letters. A town shattered by a colossal explosion. A violent manhunt that paralyzed a major city, emptying streets of people and filling them with heavily armed police and piercing sirens.

Amid the chaos came an emotional Senate gun control vote that inflamed American divisions and evoked memories of the Newtown massacre. And through it all, torrential rain pushed the Mississippi River toward flood levels.

“All in all it’s been a tough week,” President Barack Obama said Friday night. “But we’ve seen the character of our country once more.”

America was rocked this week, in rare and frightening ways. We are only beginning to make sense of a series of events that moved so fast, so furiously as to almost defy attempts to figure them out. But beneath the pain, as the weekend arrived, horror was counteracted by hope.

“We inhabit a mysterious world,” Rev. Roberto Miranda said at a prayer service for the Boston Marathon bombing, which killed three people, inflicted life-changing injuries on scores more and shook the sense of security that has slowly returned to America since 9/11.

“The dilemma of evil is that even as it carries out its dark, sinister work,” Miranda said, “it always ends up strengthening good.”

That evil arrived Monday when twin bombs exploded near the finish line of the marathon. Not since 9/11 had terror struck so close to home. Although the scale of the Boston attack was far smaller than the destruction of the World Trade Center, a dozen years’ worth of modern media evolution made it reverberate in inescapable ways.

In 2001, we could walk away from our televisions. In 2013, bad news follows us everywhere. It’s on our computers at work and home, on our phones when we call our loved ones, on social media when we talk to our friends.

“There’s no place to run, no place to hide,” said Dr. Stuart Fischoff, a professor of media psychology at California State University in Los Angeles. “It’s like perpetual shock. There’s no off button. That’s relatively unprecedented. We’re going to have to pay the price for that.”

“We’re dealing with future shock on a daily basis,” Fischoff said.

Steffen Kaplan, a social media specialist in New Jersey, tried his best to protect his young son from the madness. His television stayed off. He browsed the Internet with caution. But reality finally intruded at a local pizzeria, where a TV was playing images of the injured in Boston.

“What’s going on?” his son asked. “Nothing,” Kaplan replied. “That’s just a movie.”

Kaplan fears the world his son will inherit. To cope, “I rely on faith in humanity,” he said. “If we raise our children correctly, somehow, some way, humanity will prevail.”

But the present remains difficult, Kaplan said: “It seems to be a spiral of things happening one after the other. It can be inundating on your senses.”

The downward spiral steepened Tuesday morning. As authorities in Boston searched for leads, and the nation debated whether the perpetrators were terrorism or a different type of killer, congressional leaders said a letter containing the poison ricin had been mailed to Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi. It touched off memories of the jumbled days after 9/11, when letters containing anthrax were sent to politicians and media organizations.

On Wednesday, the Secret Service said it had intercepted a ricin letter mailed to President Barack Obama. Tensions immediately rose in Washington, with a half-dozen suspicious packages reported and parts of the Capitol complex shut down. On Wednesday evening, a suspect was arrested in Mississippi.

ricin.JPG In this Friday, April 19, 2013 file photo, federal agents wearing hazardous material suits inspect a trash can outside the house of Paul Kevin Curtis in Corinth, Miss. Curtis is in custody under the suspicion of sending letters covered in ricin to U.S. President Barack Obama and U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss.  


“I think it’s fair to say this entire week we’ve been in pretty direct confrontation with evil,” Secretary of State John Kerry said.

All this happened as the Senate, with high feelings on both sides, voted down legislation that would have banned assault weapons and expanded background checks of gun buyers. The measures, sought for decades, only became possible after 20 children and six others were gunned down at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Conn.

The defeat of the bill “brought the whole Sandy Hook thing up again,” said Rachel Allen, a lawyer from suburban Pittsburgh.

“There are so many senseless things that go on, and you see how people can come together,” Allen said Friday. She recalled being moved to tears watching the first Boston Bruins hockey game after the bombing, when the national anthem singer fell silent and let the entire arena roar the song to a finish.

Events in Washington can magnify the sense of chaos, says Fischoff, the psychologist. “Most of our institutions that we use to stabilize ourselves and our country are damaged, crippled,” he said. “What you’re having is a kind of emotional, cognitive anarchy.”

Late Wednesday night, reports emerged of an explosion outside Waco, Texas. As Thursday dawned, the magnitude became clear: A fertilizer plant had blown up with such force, it registered as an earthquake and wrecked homes, apartments, a school and a nursing home. As of Saturday morning, 14 people were dead.

tex2.JPG A person looks on as emergency workers fight a house fire after a nearby fertilizer plant exploded Wednesday, April 17, 2013, in West, Texas.  


“Is this week feeling a little apocalyptic to anyone else?” tweeted Jessica Coen, editor in chief of the Jezebel.com blog. “Boston. Poison. Explosions. Floods. Tomorrow, locusts.”

Recent Aprils have often been cruel to America. In 1993, dozens died in the siege of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco. In 1995, a domestic terrorist killed 168 people in the Oklahoma City federal building bombing. In 1999, two students killed 12 classmates, a teacher and themselves at Columbine High School. In 2007, a student rampage left 32 innocents dead at Virginia Tech.

But April 2013’s convergence of events is extremely rare, statisticians say.

Such calculations are based on the likelihood of each individual tragedy, said Michael Baron, a professor of statistics at the University of Texas at Dallas.

Baron has no actual data on how often this week’s events have separately occurred throughout history. But he estimated that if a terrorist attack occurs once every four years, a suspicious mailing once per year and an industrial accident twice per year, there is a .000004 probability of them all happening in the same week – “once in 4,808 years.”

Such absurd odds were too much for the satirical publication The Onion to resist.

The Onion “report” offered this “quote”: “‘Maybe next time we have a week, they can try not to pack it completely to the (expletive) brim with explosions, mutilations, death, manhunts, lies, weeping, and the utter uselessness of our political system,’ said basically every person in America who isn’t comatose or a complete sociopath.’”

The week was no joke for Mary Helen Gillespie, a bank vice president who lives near Boston. When she saw news of the Texas explosion, “I got sick to my gut.”

“If we were to look at a map of the United States right now – our country is strong and proud and brave and we will win. But if you look at a map, we are bleeding,” Gillespie said.

“The world is upside down,” she said. “Facebook can’t keep up with it, TV can’t keep up with it. It’s just overwhelming.”

“What I found was hope in prayer,” Gillespie said. “The more the media started reporting on the stories of hope, the heroes, the first responders, the everyday Americans going out trying to save others. That was my inspiration. It was, OK, this will get better.”

While authorities tried to determine Thursday how many had died in the fertilizer plant explosion – many victims were feared to be first responders who rushed into the inferno – the FBI released photos and videos of two suspects in the marathon attack.

“It’s been a rough week for the country,” said House Majority Leader John Boehner. “It’s been a rough week, but we’re thankful for the blessings of life and the opportunity to live in a country whose people always look out for each other.”

Finally, on Friday morning, the nation awoke to news that one suspect and a police officer had been killed – after the suspects hurled explosives during a car chase and had a shootout in the residential community of Watertown.

In Chicago, the cover of the Redeye newspaper on Friday was a giant red RESET button. “That was a rough one. Who’s ready for next week?” the caption said.

Jesse Bonelli, a video game artist who lives in locked-down Watertown, stayed inside his house Friday and sharpened a machete – just in case.

“It’s something I usually keep hanging on the wall, but it’s the only weapon I have,” he said. “I want to be ready in case anyone bursts into the house. After everything that happened this week, I keep wondering what’s next.”

All day Friday, Boston was shut down, public transit halted and people ordered to stay in their homes as thousands of police and federal agents chased down the fugitive.

He was finally captured on Friday night.

“God has not forsaken Boston. God has not forsaken our nation,” Rev. Miranda had said a few days earlier, at the prayer service. “He merely weaves a beautiful bright tapestry of goodness that includes a few dark strands.”

Obituaries today: Dianne Sanborn worked at Steiger's, Sunshine Arts; was leader of West Springfield parent groups

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Obituaries from The Republican.

 
042013-Sanborn-Dianne.jpg Dianne Sanborn  

Dianne M. (Monette) Krafchuk Sanborn, 62, of Chicopee, passed away on Wednesday. Born in Springfield, she was a lifelong resident of Chicopee. She worked at Steiger's at Baystate West in Springfield and at the Sunshine Arts Studio in East Longmeadow. She was a member of "TSL" The Single Life Club, and was honored as Woman of the Year and Volunteer of the Year in 1994. She was the PTO president of Main Street School in West Springfield and a past Parent Home Coordinator for the West Springfield schools.

Obituaries from The Republican:

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